Safety cleaning tool



Nov. 12,` 1940.

M. HECTOR SAFETY CLEANING Tool.

Filed Feb. 1e, 1940 174 l MPPZZS' 1760207;

EDH.. IW////f WITNESS Patented Nov. l2, 1940 SAFETY CLEANING TOOL MorrisHector, Royalties, Alberta, Canada anim Application February 16, 194i),Serial No. 319,360

Claims.

This invention relates to a safety cleaning tool or the type adapted tobe used for cleaning deposits from oil well tubing, pipes, casing orformation.

In conventional devices of this character the scraping wings are notmovable 'below the hori- Zontal scraping position and consequently stickwhere very long heavy deposits of paraffin or other substance areencountered and cause breaking of the cable and loss of the tool.

With this disadvantage in mind the present invention provides scrapingwings which are adapted to be swung downwardly below the horizontal soas to be withdrawn into the tubular housing of the device and thuspermit the device being safely moved past an obstruction which wouldordinarily cause conventional wing-s to stick and cause breaking of thecable.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter in which the screws which form the pivots of the scrapingwings are prevented from backing out by the offset location of thesescrews relatively to the openings in the tubular housing of the devicethrough which 25 the screws are inserted during assembly of the wings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter including a tubular housing and a floating piston thereinhaving pivoted wings, there being a sleeve loosely receiving a reducedportion of the bottom of the piston and adapted to receive the impact ofa shoulder on the lower end of the piston and prevent the tips of thewings from being drawn too far into the tubular housing and also toprevent the wings from too forcefully fulcrumming on the edges of theopenings in the tubular housing through which the wings project duringthe scraping operation.

A further object is tofprovide a device of this character having upperand lower springs bearing against the piston and against respectiveadjustable nuts in the tubular housing and to serve as shock absorbers,the upper spring also tending to yieldably resist the weight of thetubular housing on the piston when the wings encounter an obstruction.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will beformed of a few strong simple and durable parts, which will beinexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other o-bjects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel details o-f construction and combinations of parts herein-Tar orrorafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatVarious modifications may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention. 5

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a safety cleaning toolconstructed in accordance with the invention, with parts in elevation.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

yFigure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing an opening in thetubular casing in which a respective wing is fulcrumed.

Figure 4 is a detail longitudinal sectional View of the device showingthe wings in full lines withdrawn into the tubular housing as the deviceis lowered into the well tubing and showing the wings in dotted linesswung below the horizontal f to be withdrawn into the tubular housingwhen an unusually heavy sticky deposit is encountered.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, Ill designates a tubularhousing. A tubular plug Il is threaded into the upper end of the housingand a tubular plug I2 is threaded into the lower end of the housing, theplug I2 having a pointed lower end I3.

A iloating piston I4 is slidably mounted in the c housing and isprovided at intervals with longitudinal slots l5 which open throughdiametrically opposite points of the piston and which also are staggeredrelatively to each other, as best` shown in Figure 1.

A pair orA scraping wings I6 are pivotally mounted in each slot, theinner ends of the wings being provided with hinge ears I'I, as bestshown in Figure 2, through which a pivot pin I8 is passed to pivotallysecure the wings to the piston. The piston is provided with a transverseopening I9 to receive the pin, one end of the opening being smooth andthe opposite end of the opening being threaded to receive screw threads20 formed on the respective end of the pin. lA kerf 2i is formed in thehead of the pin to receive a screw ydriver for screwing the pin into thepiston to For permitting insertion of the screw a respective opening 22is formed in the In scraping position of the wings, that is, when-thewings are extended horizontally from the piston, the screw pin I8 isoffset from the opening 22, as best shown in Figure mount the wings.

tubular housing.

of the piston.

rn backing out The piston is provided at the upper end with a reducedstem 23 which projects through the tubular plug Il and which may beconnected to an operating cable, or the like, for reciprocating thedevice in oil well tubing pipe, casing, or formation. An upper stronghelical spring 24 is sleeved on the stem and bears at the lower endagainst a shoulder 25 and at the upper end bears against a nut 25threaded exteriorly to engage similar screw threads on the inner wall ofthe tubular housing as shown at 2l. The nut is provided with openings 28to receive a spanner wrench when the plug Il is removed for adjustingthe nut to regulate the tension of the spring 211.

A lower helical spring Z9 which is weaker than the upper spring issleeved upon a stem 3i) which extends from the lower end of the pistonand projects into the tubular plug I2. The spring bears at its upper endagainst a shoulder 3| formed on the lower end of the piston and at itslower end bears against a nut 32 which is provided eXteriorly with screwthreads to engage similar screw threads on the inner wall of the tubularhousing as shown at 33. The nut is provided with recesses 3ft to receivea Spanner wrench when the lower tubular piug I2 is removed for adjustingthe nut to regulate the tension of the spring 29.

As best shown in Figure 3, the wings I6 project through respectiveoppositely disposed openings 35 in the housing having upper and lowerbeveled edges 3B and 3l. The wings fulcrmn on these beveled edges whenbeing withdrawn into or projected outwardly from the tubular housing I0.The openings 35 need be only large enough to receive the wings. Thewings have arcuate movement inside the housing iii. Thus the possibilityof wax getting into the housing and clogging the working parts iseliminated.

The upper and lower springs 24 and 29 are adjusted by the nuts 25 and 32to so dispose the piston in the tubular housing so the wings i6 normallyproject horizontally from the housing in scraping position. When thedevice is lowered into the well tubing the friction of the wings i6against the tubing will initially start the withdrawing movement of thewings into the tubular housing so that the wings assume the positionshown in full lines in Figure 1i. As soon as the cable is pulledupwardly the piston 23 will be pulled upwardly and the springs 24 and 29dispose the wings in the horizontal scraping position shown in Figure 1.Should an unusually sticky deposit of paraiiin, or other substance, beencountered so as to tend to break the cable, friction of the wingsagainst such deposit co-acting with the upward movement of the oatingpiston will cause the wings to be swung below the horizontal to thedotted line position shown in Figure 4;, in which position of the wingsthe device may be safely moved past the obstruction without damage.After the obstruction is passed, the wings return to normal position.

The tip ends of the wings fulcrum on the beveled edges of the openings35 in the tubular housing during pivotal movement of the wings and itwill be pointed out that before the extreme tip ends of the wings movesufficiently to be withdrawn entirely within the tubular housing thelower shoulder 3i of the piston will contact with the top of a sleeve 38which is disposed on top of the lower nut 32 and loosely receives thelower stem 3i] of the piston. This sleeve not only acts as a stop, butalso prevents too forceful fulcruming of the tip ends of the wings onthe beveled edges 36 and 31 of the openings 35 in the tubular housing sothat wear on the parts is greatly reduced.

Since the operation of the device has been described as a description ofthe parts progressed, it is thought that the invention will be fullyunderstood without further explanation.

What is claimed is:

1. A knife for cleaning deposits from oil well tubing, pipes, casing orformation comprising, a tubular housing having oppositely disposedopenings therein, a floating piston in said housing adapted to beconnected to a reciprocating well cable and having a longitudinallydisposed s lot, a pair of wings pivotally connected at the inner ends insaid slot and having their outer ends adapted to fulcrum on the edges ofsaid openings, said openings being only large enough to receive thewings while the wings have arcuate movement inside the housing, and apair of springs in the housing sleeved on the upper and lower ends ofthe piston and adapted to normally hold said wings projectedhorizontally in scraping position through said openings, the upperspring being of greater strength than the lower spring and being adaptedto yield when the wings encounter an obstruction resistant enough tobreak the cable and permit the wings to rock downwardly below thehorizontal and be withdrawn into the housing to released position topass the obstruction.

2. A knife for cleaning deposits from oil well tubing, pipes, casing orformation comprising, a tubular housing having oppcsitely disposedopenings therein, a floating piston in the housing adapted to beconnected to a reciprocating Well cable, wings pivotally connected tothe piston and projecting through said openings, said openings havingupper and lower beveled edges forming fulcrums for the wings, saidopenings being only large enough to receive the wings while the wingshave arcuate movement inside the housing, springs on the upper and lowerends of the piston, nuts adjustabiy mounted in the housing engaging thesprings for regulating the pressure of the springs on the piston, saidsprings normally holding the wings projected horizontally in scrapingposition through said openings, the upper spring being of greaterstrength than the lower spring and yielding to permit the wings to rockdownwardly below the horizontal and be withdrawn to released position inthe housing when the wings encounter an obstruction which might breakthe cable.

3. A knife for cleaning deposits from oil well tubing, pipes, casing orformation comprising, a

tubular housing having oppositely disposed openings therein, a floatingpiston in said housing adapted to be connected to a reciprocating wellcable, a pair of wings pivotally connected at the inner ends to thepiston and having their outer ends adapted to fulcrum on the edges ofsaid openings, said openings being only large enough to receive thewings while the wings have arcuate movement inside the housing, a pairof springs in the housing sleeved on the upper and lower ends of thepiston and adapted to normally hold said wings projected horizontally inscraping position through said openings, the upper spring being adaptedto yield when the wings encounter an obstruction which might break thecable` and permit the wings to rock downwardly below the horizontal andbe moved into the housing to released position, a sleeve carried by thehousing and loosely receiving the lower end of the piston, and ashoulder on the piston engageable with said sleeve to limit pivotalmovementl of the Wings to prevent the wings from too forcefullyfulcruming on the edges of said openings.

4. A knife for cleaning deposits from oil Well tubing, pipes, casing orformation comprising, a. tubular housing, a floating piston in saidhousing having a longitudinally disposed slot and being adapted to beconnected to a reciprocating well cable, a pair of wings having alignedhinge ears disposed in said slot, a pivot pin engaged through saidpiston and through said ears, there being a lateral opening in saidhousing permitting inserton of the pin to assemble the Wings with thepiston, there being oppositely disposed fulcrum openings in the housingthrough which the wings project, said fulcrum openings being only largeenough to receive the wings while the Wings have arcuate movement insidethe housing, said lateral opening being offset from the pin to preventbacking out of the pin when the Wings are disposed in the fulcrumopenings, and a pair of springs in the housing sleeved on the upper andlower ends of the piston and adapted to normally hold said springprojected horizontally in scraping position through said opening, theupper spring being adapted to yield when the Wings encounter anobstruction which might break the cable and permit the wings to rockdownwardly below horizontal released position in the housing.

5. A knife for cleaning deposits from oil well tubing, pipes, casing orformation comprising, a tubular housing having a laterally disposedopening therein, a floating piston in said housing, a wing pivotallyIconnected to the piston and adapted to fulcrum on the edges of saidopening, said opening being only large enough to receive the wing Whilethe wing has arcuate movement within the housing, and spring means inthe housing engaging the piston and normally holding the wing inprojected horizontal scraping position, said spring means being adaptedto yield upon the Wing encountering an obstruction such as might breakthe cable and permit the wing rocking downwardly below the horizontal toreleased position within the housing.

MORRIS HECTOR.

